In this Book
- Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Envisioning Eternal Empire presents a panoptic survey of philosophical and social conflicts in Warring States political culture. By examining the extant corpus of preimperial literature, including transmitted texts and manuscripts uncovered at archaeological sites, Pines locates the common ideas of competing thinkers that underlie their ideological controversies. This bold approach allows him to transcend the once fashionable perspective of competing "schools of thought" and show that beneath the immense pluralism of Warring States thought one may identify common ideological choices that eventually shaped traditional Chinese political culture. The result is a refreshingly novel look at the foundational period in Chinese intellectual history.
Pines’ analysis of the political thought of the period focuses on the thinkers’ perceptions of three main components of the preimperial and imperial polity: the ruler, the elite, and the commoners. Regarding each of them, he identifies both the common ground and unresolved intrinsic tensions of Warring States discourse. Thus, while thinkers staunchly supported the idea of the omnipotent universal monarch, they were also aware of the mediocrity and ineptitude of acting sovereigns. They were committed to a career in government yet feared to compromise their integrity in service of corrupt rulers. They declared their dedication to "the people" yet firmly opposed the lower strata’s input in political processes. Pines asserts that the persistence of these unresolved tensions eventually became one of the most important assets of China’s political culture. The ensuing imperial political system was not excessively rigid, but sufficiently flexible to adapt itself to a variety of domestic and foreign pressures. This remarkable adaptability within the constant ideological framework contributed decisively to the empire’s longevity.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- p. vii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-9
- PART I . The Ruler
- Chapter 1. Ritual Figureheads
- pp. 13-24
- Chapter 2. Ways of Monarchism
- pp. 25-53
- Chapter 4. An Omnipotent Rubber Stamp
- pp. 82-111
- PART II. Shi: The Intellectual
- Chapter 5. The Rise of the Shi
- pp. 115-135
- Chapter 6. To Serve or Not to Serve
- pp. 136-162
- Chapter 7. Shi and the Rulers
- pp. 163-184
- PART III. The People
- Chapter 8. Ruling for the People
- pp. 187-197
- Chapter 9. “Full Bellies, Empty Hearts”
- pp. 198-218
- The Legacy of the Warring States
- pp. 219-222
- Bibliography
- pp. 271-295